old shawlie from the slums was making her way up the attic stairs, intent upon stealing that pink dress and red cloth coat to sell in Paddy’s Market on the morrow?
Lilac stood up and gently lowered the window into place. If she left it open ten to one Maudie, who suffered with her chest, would wake and start to wheeze and cry. Then Lilac would be in trouble twice over, once for daring to be awake when everyone else was sleeping and once for letting air in.
She padded barefoot over to the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, there was someone stealing up – or down – the attic stairs, she could just hear the faint, well-remembered creak which the second stair from the bottom always gave when trodden on. The conviction that someone was after her clothes increased. She would have to raise the alarm or at least rouse Nellie!
Accordingly, she tiptoed out of the dormitory and across the corridor, then stared fearfully up the attic stairs. She thought she caught a glimpse of a slender figure just before it disappeared round the corner. It had not looked like an old shawlie, but mary ellens were fond of their personal finery, suppose one of them, and they were reputed to be bad girls, had heard rumours about Lilac’s dress and coat?
Her clothes, Lilac felt, raised her from the lowly position of a foundling to someone who mattered, someone who had relatives to be visited and friends who were not at the Culler. If she lost them ... Horrified by the mere thought, she set off up the attic stairs, carefully missing the creaking one, and arrived on the little square landing with freezing feet and an uncomfortably bumping heart.
Nellie’s door was slightly ajar. Still on tiptoe and dreading what she might see, Lilac approached it.
Through the crack between door and jamb, Lilac could see Nellie sitting on her bed. She was just sitting, withher chin in her hand, gazing abstractedly at the wash-stand. It was a tiny slip of a room, not a room at all really but a partitioned-off piece of the attic, and it was easy to see that Nellie was alone. And easy to hear, Lilac suddenly realised, that Nellie was crying.
And she had been out; her shoes had clearly just been kicked off and were wet, had left wet marks across the boarded floor. And she was only just untying the strings of the brown capelike garment which the Culler provided for members of its staff.
So it had been Nellie whose footsteps had disturbed her sleep, Lilac realised rather resentfully. And just why was Nellie crying, when it was her little Lilac’s ninth birthday and she should have been full of excitement at the thought of the treats ahead of them?
She could have gone in and comforted Nellie, but that would have meant letting Nellie know she had been seen and besides, Lilac really did not want to know why Nellie walked around at night and cried. Perhaps she has a belly-ache, Lilac decided. If she’s got a belly-ache she won’t want my cold feet in her bed. So I’ll go back to my dorm, I think, and try to go to sleep to make morning come quicker.
With that thought, Lilac swung round and pattered off down the stairs, making so little noise that she could scarcely mark her own progress. Back in her room she got into bed and curled herself into a small ball, wrapped her freezing feet in her nightdress and pulled her blanket well up round her ears. And presently she fell asleep and slept soundly until the rising bell sounded.
‘Did you sleep well, Nellie?’
Lilac’s blue eyes fixed themselves ingenuously onNellie’s grey ones. It was the nearest she meant to get to asking about what had happened in the night and it was immediately obvious that Nellie did not intend to come clean.
‘Yes thanks, queen. Well, if me eyes are a bit reddish it’s because ...’ She had come into the playroom with her hands behind her back and now she brought them forward. Before Lilac’s delighted gaze she saw the red cloth coat – completed down to the last stitch. And it
Lilac stood up and gently lowered the window into place. If she left it open ten to one Maudie, who suffered with her chest, would wake and start to wheeze and cry. Then Lilac would be in trouble twice over, once for daring to be awake when everyone else was sleeping and once for letting air in.
She padded barefoot over to the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, there was someone stealing up – or down – the attic stairs, she could just hear the faint, well-remembered creak which the second stair from the bottom always gave when trodden on. The conviction that someone was after her clothes increased. She would have to raise the alarm or at least rouse Nellie!
Accordingly, she tiptoed out of the dormitory and across the corridor, then stared fearfully up the attic stairs. She thought she caught a glimpse of a slender figure just before it disappeared round the corner. It had not looked like an old shawlie, but mary ellens were fond of their personal finery, suppose one of them, and they were reputed to be bad girls, had heard rumours about Lilac’s dress and coat?
Her clothes, Lilac felt, raised her from the lowly position of a foundling to someone who mattered, someone who had relatives to be visited and friends who were not at the Culler. If she lost them ... Horrified by the mere thought, she set off up the attic stairs, carefully missing the creaking one, and arrived on the little square landing with freezing feet and an uncomfortably bumping heart.
Nellie’s door was slightly ajar. Still on tiptoe and dreading what she might see, Lilac approached it.
Through the crack between door and jamb, Lilac could see Nellie sitting on her bed. She was just sitting, withher chin in her hand, gazing abstractedly at the wash-stand. It was a tiny slip of a room, not a room at all really but a partitioned-off piece of the attic, and it was easy to see that Nellie was alone. And easy to hear, Lilac suddenly realised, that Nellie was crying.
And she had been out; her shoes had clearly just been kicked off and were wet, had left wet marks across the boarded floor. And she was only just untying the strings of the brown capelike garment which the Culler provided for members of its staff.
So it had been Nellie whose footsteps had disturbed her sleep, Lilac realised rather resentfully. And just why was Nellie crying, when it was her little Lilac’s ninth birthday and she should have been full of excitement at the thought of the treats ahead of them?
She could have gone in and comforted Nellie, but that would have meant letting Nellie know she had been seen and besides, Lilac really did not want to know why Nellie walked around at night and cried. Perhaps she has a belly-ache, Lilac decided. If she’s got a belly-ache she won’t want my cold feet in her bed. So I’ll go back to my dorm, I think, and try to go to sleep to make morning come quicker.
With that thought, Lilac swung round and pattered off down the stairs, making so little noise that she could scarcely mark her own progress. Back in her room she got into bed and curled herself into a small ball, wrapped her freezing feet in her nightdress and pulled her blanket well up round her ears. And presently she fell asleep and slept soundly until the rising bell sounded.
‘Did you sleep well, Nellie?’
Lilac’s blue eyes fixed themselves ingenuously onNellie’s grey ones. It was the nearest she meant to get to asking about what had happened in the night and it was immediately obvious that Nellie did not intend to come clean.
‘Yes thanks, queen. Well, if me eyes are a bit reddish it’s because ...’ She had come into the playroom with her hands behind her back and now she brought them forward. Before Lilac’s delighted gaze she saw the red cloth coat – completed down to the last stitch. And it
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